Chatham Square

Chatham Square is a major intersection in Chinatown, Manhattan, New York City. It was named for British prime minister William Pitt the Elder, the Earl of Chatham, and it was used as a large open-air market for goods and livestock (mainly horses) until 1820. During the mid-19th century, it became a center for tattoo parlors, flophouses, and saloons as a seedy section of the infamous Five Points neighborhood, but the area was reformed after Prohibition and the Great Depression. In 1961, Kimlau Square was opened at the center of Chatham Square, commemorating Chinese-American war veterans and the statesman Lin Zexu.